AP Questions Media Bias in National Election

[JaJae]

Barack Obama is making a rare trip out to Iraq as well as other nations overseas this week and he is doing so with a media entourage that would even George Bush would likely not see. On his trip he'll be doing overseas interviews with Katie Couric, Charles Gibson, and Brian Williams to name just a few.

This has made AP begin to question if the media has been unfair in favor of Obama. I'm surprised it took this for a media outlet to finally question it to be honest. According to a source quoted by AP, Obama receives much more dominate media play than John McCain:

For each of the weeks between June 9 and July 13, Obama had a much more significant media presence. The Project for Excellence in Journalism evaluates more than 300 political stories each week in newspapers, magazines and television to measure whether each candidate is talked about in more than 25 percent of the stories.

Every week, Obama played an important role in more than two-thirds of the stories. For July 7-13, for example, Obama was a significant presence in 77 percent of the stories, while McCain was in 48 percent, the PEJ said.

Sure, there are some weeks Obama's going to make more news, said Tom Rosenstiel, the project's director.

But every week?

Is media playing fair in campaign coverage? - Yahoo! News

Senior VP of CBS News goes on to say that Obama's trip overseas is newsworthy and questions what they're supposed to do.. "gin up" stories about McCain just to be fair? Well.. um, yes. When McCain goes overseas he should get the same treatment as Obama. You don't have to "gin up" stories to cover the event with the same expediency and enthusiasm. When was the last time they said Couric overseas to interview John McCain on location?

[kinggovernor]

The media loves Obama, his is their golden child. However, I think McCain set Obama up for this trip, he has been goading him for months to go, and Obama is going to be talking to McCain's favorite general.

[WickedLou9]

There is a reason for it though. Afterall, we are all pretty much resigned to the fact that the major network news stations are concerned with ratings above all else. They have long ago thrown journalistic integrtiy out the window.

So if you look at it from that standpoint:
Obama is charismatic, he's young, He represents a chance at the first african american president ever, he represents a change in political party in the white house. He is a big deal. People will tune in just to see him talk. Mat Lauer interviewing Obama? Talk about ratings!

On the convserse, McCain is old, booring, and essentially more of what we are used to. No one would ever tune in to watch McCain be interviewed. He's booring.


and it's that simple.

[Scrum]

The media is constantly ignoring huge McCain slip-up's while nitpicking everything that anyone who's met Obama says.


I would say McCain is the golden child.

[kinggovernor]

Originally Posted by Scrum

The media is constantly ignoring huge McCain slip-up's while nitpicking everything that anyone who's met Obama says.


I would say McCain is the golden child.

Obama has had NBC news on his election committee for months

[WickedLou9]

Originally Posted by Scrum

The media is constantly ignoring huge McCain slip-up's while nitpicking everything that anyone who's met Obama says.


I would say McCain is the golden child.

It's not that he is golden, it's just that no one cares. Really this is Obama's election to lose. All he has to do is not fuck up, and since all of the media attention ( and scrutiny) is on him, it's not an easy task.

[David Octavius]

McCain ought to be happy - the more coverage Obama has the more apt he is to make a slip up and the media, being the rabid dogs they are, will be all over him like a cheap suit.

Also I don't remember but when did McCain's religion allegiance come into question? When was his race an issue? All this Obama is a "golden child"
stuff is nonsense, he has been skewered as bad as anyone else.

[JaJae]

This is now a top story on Google.. O'Rielly discussed it on his show.

BILL O'REILLY, HOST: Now for the top story tonight: Apparently the three network news anchors — Katie Couric, Charles Gibson, and Brian Williams — are going to travel to the Middle East and Iraq with Barack Obama, raising some skepticism. That's because John McCain has made three foreign trips in the last four months and no big guns went with him. So what's going on there?

Also, Bernie Goldberg has a beef with me over Jesse Jackson. With us now here in Washington, FOX News analyst Jane Hall. And from North Carolina, the aforementioned and very grouchy Mr. Goldberg.

All right. Now look, both you and I, we discussed this earlier today. We wake up, and we're going, wait a minute, he's not elected president yet, Barack Obama. He's got the three big anchors, I guess, on his plane, doling out the interviews to them. And they're going to go along on the great Barack Obama traveling medicine show. And I'm going, whoa, this is unprecedented.

BERNARD GOLDBERG, FOX NEWS ANALYST: If we needed any more proof, Bill, that the networks were on the Barack Obama campaign team, this is it. They're covering this upcoming trip as if he were already president. By sending their anchors, they're also sending a not so subtle message to their audience. And the message is this trip is important, because we don't send our anchors unless the trip is important, right? And they're also saying it's a lot more important than the trip to the Middle East that John McCain made because John McCain, as far as a lot of the mainstream media is concerned, is just another run-of-the-mill, white politician. And Barack Obama is anything but that.

O'REILLY: But there's also another thing involved here. It could work against Barack Obama, and I'll tell you why in a moment. And then I want Jane to weigh in on it.

By sending the three anchors, that means that the coverage is going to be extensive. When McCain goes abroad, you're lucky if you get 30 seconds on it. You go, "Hey, there's John over there. John, how are you doing, man? And coming up here on the CBS Evening News..." But now they're going to have to spend half the broadcast on it.

GOLDBERG: That doesn't mean they're not going to cover for him if there's a gaffe.

O'REILLY: No, no, no, no. But you and I and everybody else are going to see if they're in the tank for Barack Obama. So I'm saying to myself, maybe this is not a good thing for him. Maybe they will unleash the power of Brian Williams, and you know how ferocious that man can be.
GOLDBERG: Go to Jane.

FOXNews.com - Why Are the Network News Anchors Going to Iraq With Obama? - Bill O’Reilly | The O’Reilly Factor

O'Rielly seems to believe that having the dream team network news anchors heading overseas for his trip shows a bias, but as others have pointed out in this thread that also means they're looking for a story to fill their time being there and if Obama makes a mistake it will hurt him if they run on that story.

[JaJae]

Articles are already being published about the overwhelmingly positive media attention Obama is receiving.

Obama Reaps Whirlwind Of Positive Coverage In Iraq
The media is awash in the last 24 hours with coverage of Sen. Barack Obama's trip to Iraq, and the central theme of the coverage is that the Iraqi government is on board with Obama's plan for a withdrawal of US combat forces in 16 months. ABC World News, in its lead story, said "Obama came to Baghdad and he brought his star power with him." The New York Times reports Obama "arrived in Baghdad on Monday, meeting with" Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki "and other senior Iraqi politicians," along with several US officials. The Financial Times says Obama "received a red carpet welcome from the Iraqi government, which called for the withdrawal of US combat forces by the end of 2010." Ali Dabbagh, an Iraqi government spokesman, "said the 2010 goal was an 'Iraqi vision'. His comments came after Maliki this weekend appeared to support Mr Obama's timeframe in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel." Dabbagh said yesterday, "We can't give any schedules or dates, but the Iraqi government sees the suitable date for withdrawal of the US forces is by the end of 2010." The AP notes that "roughly mirrored the Illinois senator's withdrawal schedule and offered a glimpse of Iraq's growing confidence as violence drops and Iraqi security forces expand their roles."

USNews.com: Political Bulletin: Tuesday, July 22, 2008

[7960]

"News" is no longer.

Now it's the "Let's Get Ratings!" show and they'll do what needs to be done to win.

[JaJae]

ABC News' Senior National Correspondent Jake Tapper calls Obama "Senator Badass"


Caption: Senator Bad-ass listens to Gen. Petraeus. (Ditto on Jewell, Hagel and Reed.)

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpu...-of-obama.html

[JaJae]

When McCain went to Iraq the fourth time or so I think CBS gave it 10 seconds of coverage. When Obama goes he gets Couric...

McCain just landed in NH and one reporter waiting for him...

McCain raises money off Obama’s trip - Mike Allen - Politico.com

John McCain, resigned to what an adviser memorably called “table scraps” of news coverage this week, has blasted a fundraising e-mail to supporters arguing that the press has “a bizarre fascination with Barack Obama.”

The e-mail has the blunt subject line: “The media is in love.”

Grammatically, it would be “the media ARE in love,” but his point is clear that news organizations are overdoing it in their expensive, extensive coverage of Obama's weeklong swing through the Middle East and Europe.

The message to the “McCain Team” from the “McCain Campaign” reads:
“It's pretty obvious that the media has a bizarre fascination with Barack Obama. Some may even say it's a love affair. We want you to be the judge. We've compiled two videos of the more outrageous moments of this not so secret love affair. Follow this link to watch the two videos and vote on which one you think is better. Your vote will determine which video we put on the air. The media is in love with Barack Obama. If it wasn't so serious, it would be funny.”

The link leads to a page with a Valentine’s color scheme, emblazoned with red hearts and saying, “The media is in LOVE with Barack,” and invites visitors to vote for clips of two montages from cable news shows, accompanied by the line “Love Is in the Air.”

The e-mail has buttons to “Join Our Team,” “Send to Friends” and “Contribute.”

His campaign has released an e-mail about the media's love affair with Obama.

[kinggovernor]

Originally Posted by JaJae

ABC News' Senior National Correspondent Jake Tapper calls Obama "Senator Badass"


Caption: Senator Bad-ass listens to Gen. Petraeus. (Ditto on Jewell, Hagel and Reed.)

Political Punch

Yea Obama is a real bad-ass, snorting coke while his peers that didn't get into Columbia were serving their country in the military.

This is what Mr. Trapper has to say about McCain complaining about media bias:

"This is like Britney Spears complaining that the hype around Miley Cyrus far exceeds her talent."
Political Punch

[JaJae]

McCain has a good video up highlighting the unfair media treatment.
John McCain 2008 - John McCain for President

[thewise1]

Originally Posted by kinggovernor

Yea Obama is a real bad-ass, snorting coke while his peers that didn't get into Columbia were serving their country in the military.

This is what Mr. Trapper has to say about McCain complaining about media bias:

"This is like Britney Spears complaining that the hype around Miley Cyrus far exceeds her talent."
Political Punch

Are you seriously going to call out obama for snorting coke when bush did the same thing?

[Scrum]

I'm still flabbergasted that anyone thinks McCain is getting unfair treatment from the media.

[Scrum]

YouTube Video

[Scrum]

Originally Posted by JaJae

When McCain went to Iraq the fourth time or so I think CBS gave it 10 seconds of coverage.

Was that the trip in March?

ABC News: McCain Makes Unannounced Trip to Iraq

McCain’s visit was not announced and he was believed to have been in the country for several hours before reporters were able to confirm his arrival. It was unclear who he met with and no media opportunities or news conferences were planned.

He can't make unannounced trips and then complain about the lack of media coverage.


Actually scratch that, he can. I just don't know why anyone listens to him.

[kinggovernor]

Originally Posted by thewise1

Are you seriously going to call out obama for snorting coke when bush did the same thing?

it certainly didn't make Bush a badass, the same with Obama